Body Counts?

[hunter1828]

Hunter1828 brings up a good point. While I don't DM with the kid gloves anymore, I don't punish them for my mistakes, either. If I accidentally put them up against something they simply cannot handle because a) I'm behind on handing out treasure and they're not properly equipped or b) I just didn't look the thing over carefully enough, then I fudge. I cackle mercilessly when they kill themselves with their own mistakes, but I don't think it's fair or breeds a sense of fun when they die because I made a bad call as DM.

Z

Bingo! And every so often, just to keep the player's guessing, I roll a random die where they can't see it and say something like "uh oh"...it works wonders to keep them feeling that something bad could potentially happend at any moment!

hunter1828

 

[d4]

i've been GMing for around 18-19 years, and i've never killed a PC.

i don't think you need the threat of death hanging over the PCs in order to create dramatic tension, and i also don't think you need a lot of tension in order to enjoy the game. (it's supposed to be entertainment, not stressful.)

i also like to run my games like action movies. the hero in an action movie doesn't have to worry about dying when he's fighting some mooks or even the BBEG's henchmen. in my games, combat isn't there to be a tense, nerve-wracking time when the PCs don't know if they're going to live or die; combat is just another opportunity for the PCs to show how badass and cool they are.

as a player, i tend to get attached to my characters. my interest in the game takes a nosedive if he dies or if a lot of other PCs die. he stops being a person to me and becomes just a set of stats to be used in the next combat encounter. in order for me to fully invest in a character, i have to know he's going to be around for a while (for the whole campaign, ideally).

 

[MerakSpielman]

Interesting. I go through great lengths to avoid having my games resembling anything like action movies or comics or anything like that. Different people like different things, it seems.

 

[d4]

Interesting. I go through great lengths to avoid having my games resembling anything like action movies or comics or anything like that. Different people like different things, it seems.

yep. games which get too "realistic" lose my interest very quickly.

the great thing about our hobby is the endless diversity!

 

[EPRock]

My Nickname is funny

My players call me Slaughter McSlaughter.

Just because I killed two low level party members. These were second level characters, they had met a bunch of orcs. The cleric cast shockwave and knocked one of the orcs down. The wizard being all smart walked up to the fallen orc to try to finish him off with his dagger / Miss. Orc stood up and provoked an aoo (wizard missed again), Splat. Orc smushed wizard with axe.

Then the orc party leader had felled one of the characters and he was dying, being surrounded the orc said come any closer and I will kill him as he stood over the body.

One party member came close to attack, and squish the party member died.

Two characters were killed and they could have been prevented if the players were a little more cautious. The Wizard could have pulled out his crossbow and shot him.

The party members could have let the other orc get away as well, and that one would not have died either.

I give my characters options, they choose the wrong ones.

 

[Grazzt]

I've killed many PCs over the course of the years (dating back to 1982-83). I agree with whoever said earlier in this thread (Diaglo, I think) that the fear of death has to be there.

I dont go out of my way to kill PCs, but I dont hold back either. If they are battling an smart NPC (monster, character, whatever), I will play it to the fullest extend of its ability (after all, the PCs are usually out to kill whomever or whatever it is).

As a footnote, my players do tend to get a little rattled when I wear my t-shirt that says "Killer DM" on the front and "Team TPK" on the back.

 

[d4]

I agree with whoever said earlier in this thread (Diaglo, I think) that the fear of death has to be there.

not to be facetious or snarky, but Why? what is there about role-playing that intrinsically requires the players fear for their characters' lives? are you saying it's not possible to have a good role-playing game where there is no risk of death?

there are other ways of building tension than fear of death, and there are other ways of entertaining folks than creating tension. i think both of those paths are valid in role-playing games as well.

 

[cdsaint]

not to be facetious or snarky, but Why? what is there about role-playing that intrinsically requires the players fear for their characters' lives? are you saying it's not possible to have a good role-playing game where there is no risk of death?

there are other ways of building tension than fear of death, and there are other ways of entertaining folks than creating tension. i think both of those paths are valid in role-playing games as well.

Honestly, I'm not sure I can explain why I prefer lethal games. I guess it could be that I and most of the people I game with were wargamers first. All I can tell you for sure is that whether I'm playing or GMing, I prefer the possibility of a lethal end for PC's or their foes. If there is no threat of death, I can't seem to take the game seriously, and I'm not likely to have fun. We could go several sessions with no combat, but combat will eventually happen, and when it does I want to know that somebody's going home in a bodybag.

Chris

 

[d4]

Honestly, I'm not sure I can explain why I prefer lethal games. I guess it could be that I and most of the people I game with were wargamers first. All I can tell you for sure is that whether I'm playing or GMing, I prefer the possibility of a lethal end for PC's or their foes. If there is no threat of death, I can't seem to take the game seriously, and I'm not likely to have fun. We could go several sessions with no combat, but combat will eventually happen, and when it does I want to know that somebody's going home in a bodybag.

that's cool. and thanks for the explanation.

i seem to approach it just the opposite: if there is too much threat of death, i can't take the game seriously as a role-playing game and i probably won't enjoy it as much. as soon as that happens, it becomes nothing more than a board wargame to me and my character becomes nothing more than a set of stats.

it seems i can only really get into the roleplaying side if i know my character is relatively "safe." i know some may see that as a weakness, but it's simply my style of gaming.

 

[DaveStebbins]

When I was younger and played much more often, the groups I was a part of had occasional character deaths. The DMs (including myself) didn't go out of our way to kill PCs, but sometimes it happened. Like others have said, those are the breaks. I once went back to my dead character file and found dozens of PCs I had forgotten about, mostly low level. Probably as many as my still playable PC list (many of whom had also died, usually more than once).

When I moved to my current location almost 15 years ago and joined my current game, things changed. The DMs in this group just don't like killing characters. There are four of us who DM and I'm the only one with no qualms about it. One of the other DMs is pretty smooth with his fudging and the other two are pretty bad at hiding it.

A few years ago we had our one and only character death when my cleric, who was hurting, got in the way of another PC's lightning bolt. In order not to alert the enemies, she yelled "duck" in elvish and my cleric was the only one in the party who didn't speak it. Everyone (including the DM) looked at me with horrified expressions, but I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Hey, it happens. It's part of the game." Later, the DM went out of his way to have my character raised.

I nearly killed a character at the last session. I told the player how much damage his rogue took and he said, "Oh man, I'm dead" and tipped over his figure. Later, as the fight was nearly over, he discovered that he had made a math error and shouldn't have even been unconscious. The other players gave him a hard time about laying down on the job, and it will become another of our group stories. I don't think they'll be too upset if someone dies now, which is good because, as I said, I (unlike the other DMs) don't pull my punches unless I've made a grave DM error.

Wow, that was much longer than I'd intended. My stream of consciousness must have overflowed its banks.

-Dave